|
|
|
I think the WOT is somewhat like keeping roaches out of a restaurant. You can never completely keep them out, but if you bring in an exterminator on a regular basis you can keep the roach population from going “critical mass.”
I view Iraq as roach prevention. I see it as an attempt to eliminate the place where terrorism breeds – the Middle East. If we can transform Iraq to a stable somewhat democratic type of government it has the potential to be one of the richest countries in the area. I think this will cause other Arabs to wonder why their country can’t be like Iraq.
There is clearly a lot of resistance to this. The job will be long, difficult, and very dangerous. And I don’t know if the American people, used to 30-second sound bites, have the patience for such a project.
The problem is there are no guarantees in this endeavor. But I think the alternative is to let the Middle East feaster like a boil until the poison from it infects the entire civilized world.
Posted by Ted at September 15, 2004 11:21 AM